All said and done, it was boring as hell.
Toph Beifong thought being a hero and leader of the police force in the newly made Republic City would be fun.
But it was boring.
She was cooped up in her office for hours on end dictating letter after letter to her personal aid, Hana.
Hana changed the letters anyway, using pretty words in the place of Toph's blunt ones, acting under orders from Katara.
She missed the action, getting her hands dirty, literally. Now that the firelord had been defeated, Aang had his hands full getting people to work together. He had it worse and Toph didn't envy him, although he did have Katara to share it with, as Republic City's chief healer and as his wife.
Toph often wished privately that she had somebody too, before dismissing the notions as silly and girlish. Toph Beifong was no distressed violet. Being Chief of Police and the inventor of Metal Bending had squashed the emotions out of her.
Toph felt vibrations in the earth, coming from the hallway and looked up expectantly, already knowing who it was.
"Toph! I need some help." Sokka whined at her as he sat flopped down in the chair in front of her desk.
"Suki?" Toph asked, already used to this routine. Toph was the one Sokka came to for advice about his relationship with Suki.
"I don't think I can fix this one." Sokka said miserably.
"Tell me what happened then." Toph said as she folded her arms in front of her.
"She…was pressuring me about getting married, since Katara and Aang did it last month. She's brought it up several times and when I wasn't as enthused as she thought I should be, she accused me of not caring as much for her as she did me, which I told her was rubbish…lately she's been moody and confrontational. It's not that I don't want to get married to her, I can't until I'm more stable and can give her the things she deserves."
Toph leaned back and thought, Suki had actually been to her office too to talk about this issue. Suki had told Toph that she was pregnant but didn't want Sokka to find out just yet because she wanted to tell him herself. Toph could see that they were stuck in a rut, with Suki not quite having the courage to tell Sokka.
"First of all, I think that's the longest I've ever heard you speak without a mention of meat or sarcasm. Secondly, has Suki been feeling sick at all lately?" Toph asked, her tone neutral, giving nothing away.
Sokka looked at Toph, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Uh, yeah..in the mornings, and she's been really tired too…how did you know?" Sokka said worriedly.
Toph just stared at him, her sightless eyes begging him to understand the meaning of what he had just said.
"Wait….what? WHAT? b-but she can't…I mean she would have told me…oh but with the fighting…but she still…oh…" Sokka said, jumping out of his seat and pacing in circles in front of Toph's desk.
"I told you nothing, you worked it out on your own. Go make it up to her." Toph stated.
Sokka stared at Toph. "How did you know?" he asked.
Toph smiled. "She told me. Congratulations by the way, now go talk to her."
Sokka walked out the door before stopping and popping his head back around the door frame.
"Thanks, Toph." He said, turning around and running off.
"You're welcome." Toph said quietly. She turned around to face the window just as Momo flew through it and landed on her desk, a scroll attached to his feet with string.
Toph unattached the scroll and flattened it out, feeling the indents made from the pen with her fingertips. One horizontal line at the top of the paper and two vertical lines beneath it, Twinkle-toes wanted to see her, urgently.
Sighing softly she got up and walked out of her office, heading to the courtroom where Aang usually was, hearing Momo fly back out the window.